Apparatus for position encoding

ABSTRACT

A position encoder including a holographically recorded, single-frequency, phase grating. When this phase grating is illuminated by a quasi-monochromatic spatially coherent light source, it acts as a basic common path interferometer and constitutes a highly efficient source of high contrast, stable, interference fringe patterns. In a position encoder application, a carrier moves the grating in a plane that is orthogonal to an axis from the light source. Motion of the carrier is detected as the fringe pattern moves past detecting means thereby to sense motion and provide position information in the form of electrical signals.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a divisional application of my application Ser. No. 863,948,filed Dec. 23, 1977, for Optical Apparatus and Method for Producing theSame, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,534.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention generally relates to the field of optical measuring andtesting and more specifically to apparatus for using interference fringepatterns for position encoding. There are two basic methods forproducing fringe patterns: (1) an interferometric technique thatutilizes interference phenomena, and (2) a Moire technique that utilizesshadow casting and/or pattern multiplication.

There are a wide variety of measuring and testing procedures thatutilize interference fringe patterns and there are many ways to produceand control interference fringes. Generally, an interference fringepattern is produced when at least two coherent beams of light arebrought together and interact. When two coherent beams interact, theydestructively interfere to produce dark spots or bands andconstructively interfere to produce bright spots or bands.

Moire fringes are produced when two similar, geometrically regularpatterns consisting of well defined clear and opaque areas arejuxtaposed and transilluminated. Some examples of geometrically regularpatterns used to generate Moire fringes include (1) Ronchi rulings, (2)sets of concentric circles, and (3) radial grids. The generation ofMoire fringes can be considered as shadow casting; that is, the shadowof the first pattern falling onto the second pattern produces the Moirefringes. The mathematical function describing Moire fringes is obtainedby multiplying the intensity transmissions or irradiances of theoverlapped geometrically regular patterns.

Apparatus using Moire or interferometric techniques is used to positionaccurately two elements relative to each other. With interferometrictechniques, an incoming beam of light is generally split into two parts.One part is reflected from a reference position; the other, from amovable element. The reflected beams are recombined to produce an outputfringe pattern that "moves" as the movable element moves. In one exampleof a Moire technique, two high contrast Ronchi rulings of slightlydifferent spatial frequencies are juxtaposed and transilluminated. Oneruling is stationary while the other is movable in a predeterminedplane. Photodetectors sense the variations in the light that passesthrough the gratings and produce signals that indicate the motion.

Certain disadvantages exist in apparatus that utilizes theinterferometric techniques to form fringe patterns in position detectionapplications. For example, in such apparatus the two light beamsgenerally travel through different light paths that contain distinctoptical elements. If the elements in each path are not matchedoptically, aberrations distort the fringe pattern. Matched opticalelements can eliminate the aberration problem; however, theysignificantly increase the overall expense of the apparatus. Moreover,this apparatus is subject to various outside influences, such asvibration and thermal change. These influences can cause fringe patternmotion or noise and lead to improper measurements.

Moire techniques also have many limitations. When small spacings andhigh accuracies are required, the geometrically regular patterns used togenerate Moire fringes are quite difficult and expensive to produce. Inapplications where one ruling moves next to a fixed ruling, the spacingbetween the rulings must be held constant or errors result. Also, Moirefringes are localized, i.e., they exist in a very small region of space,and additional optical components are often required to image the Moirefringes into desired regions.

Recently, an amplitude grating and a spatially coherent,quasi-monochromatic light source have been used to generate interferencefringes. An amplitude grating is a generally transparent tosemi-transparent media whose opacity is altered in accordance with somespatially periodic pattern. An amplitude grating "breaks up" ordiffracts an incoming beam of light into a series of diffracted cones ororders. The strength, or amount, of light in each order depends upon theexact shape of the periodic opacity of the amplitude grating. Althoughvarious diffracted orders could be approximately the same strength,scalar diffraction theory for a thin amplitude grating predicts that thedominant strength will lie in the zero order undiffracted light and thatthe strength of other diffracted orders will vary. Indeed, practicalapplications bear out this prediction.

In the apparatus in U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,753, issued June 12, 1973, lightpasses from a source through an amplitude grating to produce differentorder cones of diffracted light: for example, zero order and first ordercones. To compensate for the different intensities, the diffracted lightcones are reflected back through the grating. After the second passagethrough the grating, the zero order cone of the reflected first ordercone and the first order cone of the reflected zero order cone haveequal strengths and are combined to form a high contrast interferencefringe field. This double pass system is quite stable because it closelyapproximates a common path interferometer. In a common pathinterferometer the interfering beams traverse the same optical path.Therefore, perturbations affect both beams simultaneously and do notdistort the output fringe pattern which is sensitive only to differencesbetween the two optical paths. However, problems in such a double passsystem do occur because it is difficult to control grating substrateaberrations and mirror-grating separation.

Further improvements have been made with the advent of holographicallyproduced amplitude gratings. Holographic amplitude gratings are producedby exposing a high resolution photographic emulsion to the preciseinterference pattern of a laser two-beam interferometer. During ordinaryphotographic processing, the photosensitive silver halide in theemulsion converts into opaque metallic silver to form the amplitudegrating.

In U.S. Pat. No. 3,829,219, issued 1974 to Wyant, and U.S. Pat. No.4,118,124 issued Oct. 3, 1978 to Matsuda, one such holographic grating,a double frequency holographic grating, produces a so-called "shearing"pattern. This grating is produced by sequentially exposing a singlephotographic emulsion to a first laser interference pattern of a firstspatial frequency, f₁, and then to a second laser interference patternof a second spatial frequency, f₂. Equal amplitude transmissionmodulations at both frequencies f₁ and f₂ are achieved by adjusting theexposure to the first and second laser patterns. Ordinarily, the twosequential exposures are identical, but if f₁ and f₂ are very differentor if one laser pattern is in red light and the other is in green light,the sequential exposures must be compensated for the spectral andfrequency responses of the photographic plate. These exposureadjustments to achieve equal amplitude transmission modulations in f₁and f₂ are usually done by trial and error.

Upon illumination with spatially coherent, quasimonochromatic light,this double frequency grating produces two first order light cones ofequal strength, one light cone being associated with each of the f₁ andf₂ frequencies. These two first order light cones interact to form avery stable, high contrast fringe pattern. Such a double frequencyholographic shearing interferometer also is a common pathinterferometer. It is simple to construct. However, in thisinterferometer it is necessary to separate the zero order cone from theinteracting first order cones. This separation requirement limits thef/number of the input light cone and the amount of shear obtainable.Moreover, if the two first order cones have high diffraction angles anastigmatic distortion of the output fringe field exists. In addition,the efficiency, or ratio of output fringe field power to input power, isonly about 2%.

For many years people have bleached photographically recorded amplitudegratings to obtain ¢phase gratings". One basic type of such bleaching,known as volume bleaching, chemically converts the opaque silver in thephotographic emulsion into a transparent, high index silver salt. Asecond type of bleaching, known as tanning, chemically removes thedeveloped silver within the emulsion and leaves a void. A tanned phasegrating has a corrugated surface. Whereas an amplitude gratingselectively absorbs light, a bleached phase grating selectivelyintroduces phase delays across the input light beam. As a result, aphase grating is much more efficient than an amplitude grating; that is,the ratio of first order power to input power is greater.

However, bleached gratings are generally characterized by substantialproblems. They are very noisy and also may deterioriate physically backinto amplitude gratings upon extended exposure to light. Bleachedgratings also have a lower spatial frequency response than amplitudegratings. Although volume bleached gratings are less noisy and have ahigher spatial frequency response than their tanned counterparts, theygenerally are weaker and less efficient.

The efficiency of a volume bleached grating can be increased byincreasing its thickness. However, any substantial increase in thicknessdrastically changes the basic diffraction properties of the grating. Anyamplitude or phase grating can be considered optically thick when theoptical thickness of the emulsion is more than five times the gratingspacing. A grating can be considered optically thin if the opticalthickness of the emulsion is less than half the grating spacing.Properties of thick gratings are accurately predicted by electromagnetictheory, while properties of thin gratings are described by scalardiffraction theory. For example, a thick phase grating output consistsof only the zero order and one first order diffracted cone. In addition,diffraction takes place only for a plane wave input at a certainspecified angle with respect to the grating. On the other hand, a thingrating of the same spacing produces multiple orders (i.e. the 0, ±1,±2, ±3, etc. orders) with either a spherical wave or plane wave input atan arbitrary angle with respect to the grating.

Distinctions between optically thin amplitude and optically thin phasegratings are accurately predicted by scalar diffraction theory. When apure sinusoidal amplitude transmission perturbation exists in a thinamplitude grating, only the zero and ±1 diffracted orders exist. When apure sinusoidal phase perturbation occurs in a thin phase grating, manyorders (e.g., the 0, ±1, ±2, ±3, and other orders) are observed. Thestrengths of the phase grating orders are proportional to the normalizedBessel functions [J_(n) (m/2)]², where n is the order number (e.g., nequals 0, ±1, ±2, . . . ) and m is the strength of size of the phaseperturbation in radians. When the amplitude grating perturbation departsfrom a pure sinusoidal form, additional diffracted orders are generated.The strengths of these additional orders are directly related to thestrengths of the Fourier components associated with the gratingperturbation function.

With a phase grating, the diffracted orders associated with anon-sinusoidal phase perturbation are predicted by convolving theindividual outputs from each Fourier component of the phaseperturbation. Such a multiple convolution reveals complicated phaserelationships between multiple orders associated with just oneparticular Fourier component. In addition, diffracted orderscorresponding to sum and difference frequencies are generated when thephase perturbation consists of more than one fundamental spatialfrequency. For example, one might consider bleaching the previouslydiscussed double-frequency holographic grating to improve its poorefficiency. Although bleaching will increase the overall efficiency ofsuch a grating, the bleached grating, in accordance with theconvolutional operation, produces sum and difference frequencydiffraction cones that are in addition to and that interact with thedesired fundamental frequency diffraction cones. It is then possible forthe sum and difference frequency diffraction cones to destroy the fringefield.

Therefore, it is the object of this invention to provide an improvedholographic phase grating for producing a high contrast interferencepattern.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved holographicgrating that is useful in a number of applications including positiondetection.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide apparatus foraccurate detection of position information.

SUMMARY

In accordance with a specific embodiment of this invention, aquasi-monochromatic, spatially coherent light source is positionedadjacent to one side of a holographic grating and directs light to thegrating along a light axis. This produces a first diffraction and asecond diffraction of different order that have equal strength and thatoverlap thereby to produce a high contrast, low-noise interferencepattern in the area of overlap of the two diffractions. Photodetectorsare disposed on the opposite side of the grating to receive theinterference pattern. Relative motion between the photodetection meansand the grating in a plane that is normal to the light axis is readilydetected and accurately measured by the photodetectors.

This invention is pointed out with particularity in the appended claims.The above and further objects and advantages of this invention may bebetter understood by referring to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram that illustrates the apparatus for producing aholographic grating in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a chart that depicts the various basic steps for processing aholographic grating in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an interferometer constructed in accordance withone aspect of this invention for producing fringe patterns;

FIG. 4A is a diagram of an embodiment of a position encoder constructedin accordance with this invention; FIGS. 4B and 4C depict typical fringepatterns that are produced by the apparatus shown in FIG. 4A;

FIG. 5A is a diagram of an alternate embodiment of a position encoderconstructed in accordance with this invention for sensing motion alongorthogonal axes; FIG. 5B depicts typical fringe patterns that areproduced by the apparatus shown in FIG. 5A;

FIG. 6 depicts the fringe patterns produced by the apparatus of FIG. 4Aas modified to provide quadrature signals; and

FIG. 7A is a diagram of a position encoder for producing stablequadrature position signals; FIG. 7B depicts the fringe patterns thatare produced by the position encoder in FIG. 7A.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS A. Holographic Grating

FIG. 1 depicts, in diagrammatic form, the arrangement of apparatusnecessary for exposing a photographic plate during the production of aholographic phase grating. The holographic phase grating produced inaccordance with the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 and the proceduresoutlined in FIG. 2 are essential to the operation of the diverseembodiments of the invention that are shown in the other Figures.Specifically, this apparatus includes a laser source 10 which directslight along an axis 11. The other apparatus in FIG. 1 splits the lightinto parts that travel over two separate paths and are then brought backtogether to expose a photographic plate 12.

A conventional beamsplitter 13 separates the light into two parts. Afirst part travels along a first path that includes mirrors 14 and 15for reflecting the light into an objective lens and pinhole 16, therebyto produce a spherical wave that emanates from a point source at thepinhole. The wave appears in a cone 17 and is directed toward thephotographic plate along an axis 18. The second path established by thebeamsplitter 13 includes a mirror 20 and an objective lens and pinhole21 that produce a spherical wave cone 22 that emanates from a pointsource at that pinhole along an axis 23. The light waves from these twopoint sources combine; they destructively interfere to produce darkbands and constructively interfere to produce bright bands at thephotographic plate 12.

The photographic plate 12 mounts on a rotary table which positions thephotographic plate 12 and accurately establishes an angle θ between theaxes 18 and 23. The spatial frequency, ξ, of the interference pattern atplate 12 is closely aproximated by the equation

    ξ=[2 sin (θ/2)]/λ,                         (1)

where λ is the laser wavelength. Although the fringes produced at theplate 12 are slightly hyperbolic, they are excellent approximations torectilinear bands and therefore are shown as such in various Figures.Increasingly better approximations to rectilinear bands are achieved byincreasing the distance along the axes 18 and 23 between the plate 12and the pinholes 16 and 21, respectively.

The apparatus diagrammed in FIG. 1 has been used to manufacture gratingshaving the desirable properties that characterize my invention. Theequipment is simple and relatively inexpensive. For example, the laser10 can comprise a TEM₀₀ mode laser; the beamsplitter 13, a conventionalvariable density beamsplitter that enables the intensity of the twobeams to be equalized. The mirrors 14, 15 and 20 are standard planarmirrors. The objective lens comprises a conventional 10X microscopeobjective, and the pinhole matches that objective lens. The distances 18and 23 are approximately 2 meters. With this specific arrangement, I amable to obtain a 500 line-per-millimeter interference fringe patternover a 3"×3" area with maximum fringe displacement error of about0.00254 millimeters.

Once the apparatus in FIG. 1 is arranged, the emulsion on thephotographic film can be exposed to the interference pattern as shown asStep 1 in FIG. 2. During this exposure step, certain controls must beexercised to assure a holographic grating of good quality. For example,the exposure should be made in an environment that is not subjected tovibrations. Thermal disturbances should be minimized as any air flowbetween the beamsplitter 13 and the photographic plate 12 can distortthe resulting fringes. In applications where very high densities andminimal distortions are required the distances along axes 18 and 23 mustbe increased to 5 or even 10 meters. Precise determinations of λ and θmust be made. Although this basic apparatus can be used to producehighly accurate holographic phase gratings, the maximum accuracyultimately then will be determined by the accuracy of angular measuringequipment, the stability of the single frequency laser, the opticaltable stability, and the atmospheric and thermal controls that areexercised.

In order to produce a phase grating with special properties that enablethe construction of the various disclosed embodiments, it is firstnecessary to produce an amplitude grating. Given the various propertiesof commercially available photographic emulsions and developers, a thinemulsion photographic plate and a chemically compatible developer areselected. A process of heavily overexposing and underdeveloping theemulsion reduces the optical thickness of the processed emulsion to afraction of its original physical thickness. Thus, by utilizing thecontrols set forth in steps 1 and 2 of FIG. 2, one produces an amplitudegrating characterized by having:

1. an optically thin emulsion conforming to scalar diffraction theory;

2. a specific form for the absorbtion function which converts to acorrespondingly specific phase transmission function after bleaching;and

3. a specific amplitude or strength of the absorbtion function whichconverts to a specific peak to peak phase modulation after bleaching.

Specific plate types, exposures, development times and developers arediscussed later.

Once the development of step 2 is complete, the photographic plate iswashed in an acid short-stop solution in step 3. The solution containsan acid hardener. A two-minute treatment in a hardening bath producesacceptable results.

In step 4 the emulsion of the photographic plate is fixed and hardened.A standard fixing bath and acid hardener have been used successfully,the plate being immersed in the bath for about ten minutes.

Next (step 5) the emulsion is prewashed for thirty seconds andhypo-cleared in a hypo clearing bath for about two minutes. In step 6the emulsion is washed (e.g., twenty minutes in filtered water) and thensoaked in a methanol bath until all residual sensitizing dye is removed(step 7). Once the methanol bath has been completed, the plate is driedin a light blow air drying operation.

All the foregoing steps are conventional photographic processing stepsthat utilize commericially available chemicals. Upon completion of step7 an amplitude grating has been produced. Steps 8 and 9 then convertthis amplitude grating into a phase grating having the desiredcharacteristics.

More specifically, after the photographic plate is dried thoroughly instep 7, it is bleached during step 8 in a bromine vapor until the plateis clear. Once the bleaching operation has been completed, the plate isrinsed in a methanol bath to remove residual Br₂ and dried thoroughly bya light blow air drying operation in step 9.

It now will be beneficial to discuss certain characteristics of theseholographic phase gratings that are particularly desirable. First, theexposure and development times and the emulsion have been chosen toproduce "thin" gratings. As a specific example, I have made 393.7line-per-millimeter gratings on Kodak 131-01 plates according to theforegoing processing procedure using an average exposure of 200 ergs/cm² and a development time of 15 seconds in standard Kodak D-19 developerat 80° F. Uniform development is achieved by using a large developmenttank and rapid manual agitation of the plate. After complete processingin accordance with the steps of FIG. 2, the resulting thin phase gratingdiffracts both input spherical waves as well as input plane waves; aspreviously stated, a thick grating diffracts only input plane wavesincident at a particular angle with respect to the grating.

Measurements have shown that a thin phase grating manufactured accordingto the foregoing process has a pure sinusoidal phase transmissionfunction whose peak-to-peak phase delay produces equal strength zero and±1 diffraction orders. The 200 ergs/cm ² exposure produces an averageamplitude transmission of approximately 0.45 for the developed, butunbleached, Kodak 131-01 plates. Experimental data has confirmed that apure sinusoidal phase transmission function is maintained when the thingrating has an average amplitude transmssion of 0.5 or less in itsdeveloped but unbleached state. The strength or peak-to-peak phase delayof the final phase grating is adjusted by controlling the initialexposure (Step 1, FIG. 2) within the limits set by an average amplitudetransmission of 0.5 (measured after Step 7 in FIG. 2). A very weak phasegrating produced with low exposure levels exhibits a strong zero orderdiffraction, a weak first ordeer, and an even weaker second order.Stronger gratings produced with higher exposure levels exhibitincreasingly more powerful first and second order diffraction anddecreased zero order diffraction. Equal strength zero and ±1 diffractionorders or equal strength zero and ±2 diffraction orders are achieved bya trial and error adjustment of the initial exposure.

The advantages of such a thin phase grating that produces two differentdiffraction orders of equal strength will now become apparent in thefollowing discussion of an interferometer that utilizes such a phasegrating.

B. Interferometer

Referring now to FIG. 3, an interferometer is depicted in schematic formthat includes a helium neon laser 30 which directs light along an axis31 to a negative lens 32. The negative lens 32 expands the beam slightlyso that it completely fills a microscope objective 33. The microscopeobjective 33 focuses this light at a focal point FP displaced a distanceZ₁ from a holographic grating 34 constructed as described above. Thelaser 30, negtive lens 32 and microscope objective 33 constitute asource of a quasi-monochromatic diverging spherical wave that emanatesfrom the focal point FP. In one embodiment, the cone from the focalpoint FP is an f/2 cone.

When the spherical wave from the point source at the focal point FPstrikes the grating 34, it produces a number of cones of diffraction.According to scalar diffraction theory, the strength of the diffractedcones is governed by the Bessel function [J_(n) (m/2)]² where n is thediffraction order number and m is the grating transmission functionpeak-to-peak phase delay in radians. The previously specified exposureand development times yield a value of m=2.870 at=6328 A. The zero andfirst order diffraction cones are of equal intensity because [J₀(1.435)]² =[J₁ (1.435)]². Moreover, the diffraction angles are such thatthe zero order cone overlaps both first order cones while the firstorder cones merely abut each other. At some point at a distance Z₂ fromthe grating 34, an output such as is shown in FIG. 3 is produced. Thezero order cone appears planar circle 35, first order cones appear asplanar circles 36A and 36B. Areas 37A and 37B are areas of overlap andthe fringes are produced in those areas. Moreover, the fringes in theareas 37A and 37B are out of phase with each other. Thus, if thecentrally located fringe in area 37A is a dark band, the correspondingfringe in area 37B is a light, or bright, band. By "light" and "dark"bands, I do not means bands having the same intensity across the band,as the bands are shown in the drawings. The fringe intensity actuallyvaries smoothly and is proportional to the square of a sine function,although the eye may perceive distinct alternating bands under someillumination conditions.

The 180° phase shift between the fringes in areas 37A and 37B is adirect result of having a pure sinusoidal phase transmission functionassociated with grating 34. When the phase transmission function of 34departs from a pure sinusoid, the fringes in the areas 37A and 37B willhave some other phase relationship not equal to 180°. The 180° phaseshift is not essential to the production of high contrast fringepatterns; but it is important in a position detecting application wherequadrature electrical signals are derived from the central fringes.Control of the grating transmission function form is achieved byselecting the proper combination of emulsion, developer, exposure anddevelopment time as previously discussed.

The interferometer shown in FIG. 3 has several properties. If thedistance Z₁ is varied, the number of fringes within the overlap areas37A and 37B changes. Specifically, decreasing the distance Z₁ decreasesthe number of fringes that appear in the overlap areas. As Z₁ is varied,fringes "flow" into or out of the areas 37A and 37B. Although this"fringe flow" may cause the central fringes to widen or narrow, it doesnot move the central fringes; they remain located at the centers oftheir respective areas. The importance of this central fringe behaviorwith Z₁ variations will be discussed later. If the grating 34 is movedin a plane that is normal to the axis 3 and perpendicular to thedirection of the fringes, all the fringes in the areas 37A and 37Bappear to slide through those areas, but the number of fringes in thoseareas remains unchanged. If the distance Z₂ varies, the number offringes also remain the same, but in this case their sizes change, thefringe widths becoming smaller as Z₂ decreases. The interferometerparameters are related by the equation:

    T=(Z.sub.2 +Z.sub.1)/ξZ.sub.1                           (2)

Where T is the fringe period in overlap regions 37A and 37B, ξ is thespatial frequency of the grating 34 defined by equation (1) and Z₁ andZ₂ are the positive distances shown in FIG. 3.

The holographic grating interferometer in FIG. 3 is very stable and freeof fringe distortion from outside influences because it is essentially acommon path interferometer. Atmospheric changes, air currents andthermal instabilities do not distort the fringes. Moreover, theintensity of the light in each of the diffraction cones is much greaterthan that usually obtained from amplitude gratings because the phasegrating essentially is transparent and relies entirely on time delayswithin the grating 34 to produce the diffraction cones. As a result, theoverall brightness of the fringe pattern is increased. Moreover, as theintensities in each of the zero-order and first-order cones are equal,the destructive and constructive interferences tend to be complete sothe dark bands are essentially black while the bright bands areessentially twice as bright as the average light. Thus the gratingenables the production of a simple common path interferometer thatproduces bright, high-contrast fringes.

The foregoing properties lay a basis for understanding applications of ableached phase grating in position encoders. In such encoders the Z₁ andZ₂ distances remain essentially unchanged, but the grating is allowed tomove thereby to shift the fringes.

C. Position Encoder

In accordance with this invention, the interferometer shown in FIG. 3 isreadily adapted to use in a position control system. As previouslyindicated, the fringes in the areas of overlap 37A and 37B in FIG. 3move through the area of overlap in the direction of motion of thegrating. Moreover, if the distance Z₁ between the focal point FP and thegrating remains constant, the number of fringes in the area of overlapremain constant. On the other hand, if the distance Z₂ varies, then thenumber of fringes within the area of overlap remains the same but thearea of the overlap varies, as would be expected in a projection typesystem.

A specific embodiment of a position encoder that can be used in a widevariety of measurement and control functions is disclosed in FIG. 4A. InFIG. 4A, light emanates from a point source 100 of quasi-monochromatic,spatially coherent light. A holographically recorded, single-frequencyphase grating 101 is mounted in a carrier 102 that moves in in the Xdirection of an XY plane that is orthogonal to the light, or Z, axis.Light from the source 100 is diffracted into equal strength zero andfirst order cones by the grating 101 that is supported in a carrier 102.The zero order distribution is represented as a planar circle 103 whilethe two first order distributions are depicted by planar circles 104 and105. The fringes in the areas of overlap 106 and 107 are projected ontophotodetectors 110 and 111 that generate input signals for a positiondetection circuit 112, such circuits being well known in the art.

Referring to FIG. 4B, the photodetectors 110 and 111 are horizontallyoriented in the central fringe that is produced in each of the areas ofoverlap 106 and 107; i.e., on axes 120 and 121 respectively. Aspreviously explained, controlling the form of the grating phasetransmission function causes the fringes in one area of overlap to be180° out of phase with the fringes in the other area of overlap. Asshown in FIG. 4B the photodetector 110 is aligned with a dark band atthe central fringe position while the photodetector 111 is aligned witha bright band at the central fringe position. For purposes of thephotodetection, this particular embodiment is particularly simplified ifthe light source 100 generates red or near infrared light asphotodetection cells, such as photodiodes, are particularly sensitive inthis region of the spectrum.

If the carrier 102 moves slightly to the right in FIG. 4A along the Xaxis, the fringes shift with it. After an incremental motion, the bandsthat impinge the photodetectors 110 and 111 in FIG. 4B shift to thepositions shown in FIG. 4C. Now a bright band impinges the photodetector110, and a dark band impinges the photodector 111. If the grating 101has a phase pattern of 400 lines per millimeter, this binary changerepresents a translation along the X axis of approximately 0.000050inches. Yet even with this accuracy, this apparatus is relatively easyto construct because the bands that impinge the photodetectors arerelatively wide. For example, bands having a width of about 0.1 inch areobtained when Z₂ equals about 2 inches and Z₁ equals 0.001 inches. Seeequation (1). Bands of this width facilitate the placement of thephotodetectors because their positions can be established with fairlyloose tolerances.

This apparatus is essentially insensitive to any changes in the distancebetween the grating 101 and the photodetectors 110 and 111 along axes120 and 121. As previously indicated, the size of the fringe fields 106and 107 changes if Z₂ changes, but the number of fringes within thefields does not change. Thus, in FIG. 4B the photodetectors 110 and 111remain centered on their respective central fringes, notwithstanding anyvariations in the distance Z₂ along axes 120 and 121.

The point source 100 shown in FIG. 4A comprises elements such as a laser30, negative lens 32 and microscope objective 33 of FIG. 3. The laser 30can comprise a low power TEM₀₀ mode helium neon cylindrical or otherlike laser. The negative lens 32 and microscope objective lens 33 aremovable along the axis 31 in FIG. 3 and focus the light at a focal pointFP. The negative lens 32 expands the beam from the laser 30 slightly soas to completely fill the microscope objective lens 33 aperture with auniform light distribution. A -4 mm focal length biconcave lens is asatisfactory negative lens. The microscope objective lens 33 is aconventional objective lens, a 10X N.A. 0.25 objective lens beingsatisfactory. With a source of this construction, the laser radiation isallowed to overfill the objective, thus producing a well boundedradiation field with radial symmetry as shown in FIG. 4A.

On the other hand a simple laser diode could also be used by itself orin combination with the microscope objective 33. The shape of the laserdiode radiating region is approximately rectangular instead of circular.Therefore, when the laser diode is used by itself, the zero and ±1 orderdistributions are not the radially symmetrical and sharply boundedcircles 103, 104 and 105 in FIG. 4A. However, FIG. 4A does constitute anapproximate representation of the actual irradiance distributions in theXY plane when the spatially coherent, quasi-monochromatic sourcecomprises only a laser diode. When a laser diode and microscopeobjective are used in combination, the laser diode radiation is allowedto overfill the microscope objective. Thus, a well-bounded radiationfield with greater radial symmetry is produced. With any such "source",the discussions concerning the various position encoders is totallyvalid and unaffected by the use of the idealized representations 103,104 and 105, FIG. 4A.

While the apparatus in FIG. 4A is useful in making measurements in onedirection, FIG. 5A discloses a carrier with a grating 123 that moves inboth the X and Y directions. The grating 123 differs from the grating101 in FIG. 4A and the difference is most redily understood by referringto FIGS. 1 and 2. In forming the grating 123, the photographic plate 12is exposed as previously described with reference to step 1 in FIG. 2.However, the plate is then turned 90° and exposed again before it isdeveloped. This double exposure produces superimposed horizontal andvertical single frequency interference patterns.

Referring again to FIG. 5A, when the grating 123 is illuminated with anypoint source of quasi-monochromatic, spatially coherent light, thegrating produces five diffraction cones of interest that areapproximated in FIG. 5A and are shown more clearly by a planarprojection in FIG. 5B. The vertical phase pattern on the gratingproduces cones represented by circles 103 through 105 as previouslydescribed, these cones producing areas of overlap 106A and 107A.However, the horizontally disposed phase pattern produces a pair offirst order cones in the vertical direction designated by referencenumerals 114 and 115. Four areas of overlap are important. Arcuate wedgeareas 106A and 107A correspond to the areas 106 and 107 shown in FIG. 4Bthat are independent of the influence exerted by the first order cones114 and 115. Arcuate wedge areas 116A and 117A are formed by overlappingthe zero order cone 103 and the first order cones 114 and 115, and theyare independent of any influence by the first order cones 104 and 105.The photodetectors are aligned on the central fringe for each area ofoverlap. Photodetectors 110 and 111 aligned with the areas 106A and 107Arespond to motion along the X axis as previously discussed.Photodetectors 120 and 121 are aligned with the areas 116A and 117A.They sense vertical motion along the Y axis. These four photodetectorsare then coupled to the position detection circuit 124 that responds tothese signals either for indicating XY motion or for providing an inputto an XY positioning servo mechanism.

FIG. 6 illustrates, diagrammatically, apparatus that generatesquadrature signals. Basically this apparatus employs the apparatus shownin FIG. 4A with the addition of photodetectors 125 and 126.Photodetectors 110 and 111 are shifted upwardly but remain positioned onthe central fringes. The additional photodetectors 125 and 126 arepositioned one-quarter fringe period to the right of each central fringe(i.e. 90° out of phase or in a quadrature position). Thus, as will bereadily apparent, the signals from these four photodetectors providequadrature signals that inherently provide both position and directioninformation.

In each of the foregoing applications, it is assumed that the Z₁distance between the point source of light and the grating remainconstant. As apparent, however, such a constant dimension might bedifficult to achieve in some practical applications. FIGS. 7A and 7Bdisclose apparatus which is essentially insensitive to a reasonablerange of variations in the Z₁ dimension. This again is shown inconnection with an apparatus for detecting translation along the Xdirection only. The resulting signals are conveyed to a positiondetection system 127 that includes an up-down counter to count thepassage of fringes and to provide an accurate indication of motion.

More specifically, a laser light source 100 transmits light through thegrating 101 to produce zero and first order cones 103, 104 and 105 withareas of overlap 106 and 107. As shown in FIG. 7B, photodetectors 110and 111 then provide a first set of signals. Another light source 130 isdisposed below the light source 100. It is positioned to produce azero-order cone 133 and first-order cones 134 and 135 that lie below thediffraction cones produced by light from the source 100. The horizontal,or X, position of source 130 is adjusted to produce overlap areas 136and 137 whose central fringes are 90° out of phase with the centralfringes of overlap areas 106 and 107. Photodetectors 140 and 141 arealigned with these central fringes in overlap areas 136 and 137. Withthis arrangement, quadrature signals are generated from four centralfringes whose position is unaffected by variations in Z₁. Increasing Z₁causes the width of the central fringes to decrease, but so long as thephotodetector aperture can resolve the central finges, an accuratequadrature signal is produced.

In summary, there has been disclosed a basic inteferometer constructionthat utilizes a holographically recorded, single-frequency, bleached,phase grating for producing stable, high-contrast fringe patterns withhigh efficiency. Moreover, there has been disclosed a specificapplication of this interferometer for sensing or controlling theposition of a mechanical element. In this application, the grating ismoved in a plane that is orthagonal to a light axis so the fringepatterns move past detectors. The detectors convert the passage of thefringe patterns into signals that indicate discrete increments of motionby the grating.

It will be apparent from the foregoing discussion, however, that thespecific embodiments of this invention that have been disclosed aremerely representative. The basic principles can be employed in otherembodiments with the attainment of some or all of the advantages of thisinvention. Therefore, it is an object of the appended claims to coverall such variations and modifications as come within the true spirit andscope of this invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:
 1. Apparatus for indicating the position of a movable elementalong a motion axis, said apparatus comprising:A. interference patterngenerating means for generating a first diffraction and a seconddiffraction that are of different order, that have equal strength andthat overlap thereby to produce a first high contrast, low noiseinterference fringe pattern in a first area of overlap, B. firstdetection means positioned to view the first interference fringe patternfor producing signals dependent upon the first interference fringepattern, and C. motion means for producing relative movement of saidgenerating means and said detection means along the motion axis therebyto move said first interference fringe pattern with respect to saiddetection means.
 2. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein saidinterference pattern generating means includes:i. light source means forprojecting spatially coherent, quasi-monochromatic light along an axisthat is normal to the motion axis, and ii. holographically recorded,single frequency, optically thin phase grating means responsive to thelight from the light source means for producing said diffractions. 3.Apparatus as recited in claim 2 wherein said motion means connects tosaid grating means and moves said grating means along said motion axis.4. Apparatus as recited in claim 2 wherein said detection meansincludes:i. one or more photodetectors for viewing the fringes of saidfirst fringe pattern, and ii. circuit means connected to each saidphotodetector for producing position signals.
 5. Apparatus as recited inclaim 2 additionally comprising second light source means spaced fromsaid first light source means and illuminating said grating means forproducing a third diffraction and a fourth diffraction that are ofdifferent orders, that have equal strength and that overlap thereby toproduce a second high-contrast, low-noise interference fringe pattern inthe area of overlap that is coplanar with the first interference fringepattern.
 6. Apparatus as recited in claim 5 additionally comprisingsecond detection means positioned to view the second interference fringepattern for producing signals dependent upon said second interferencefringe pattern.
 7. Apparatus as recited in claim 2 wherein saidinterference pattern generating means also generates a third diffractionthat is of the same order as the second diffraction, that has the samestrength as the second diffraction and that overlaps the firstdiffraction so as to produce a second high-contrast, low-noiseinterference fringe pattern that is out of phase with the first fringepattern.
 8. The apparatus as recited in claim 7 and further includingsecond detection means positioned to view the second interference fringepattern for producing signals dependent upon said second fringe pattern.9. Apparatus as recited in claim 8 whereinA. the first and secondinterference fringe patterns are substantially 180° out of phase, and B.the first and second detection means are positioned to view the centralfringes in the first and second interference fringe patternsrespectively.
 10. The apparatus as recited in claim 9 and furtherincluding third and fourth detection meansA. positioned to view thefirst and second interference fringe patterns respectively for producingsignals dependent upon those patterns, and B. spaced from the first andsecond detection means in a direction normal to said motion axis. 11.The apparatus as recited in claim 10 wherein the third and fourthdetection means are offset from the first and second detection meansrespectively along said motion axis by an amount substantially equal to90° in phase so that the signals from the four detection means are inphase quadrature.
 12. Apparatus as recited in claim 9 wherein thegrating means has parallel rulings so that said first and secondinterference fringe patterns are each composed of substantiallystraight, parallel fringes oriented perpendicular to said motion axis.13. Apparatus as recited in claim 9 whereinA. the grating means has twoorthogonal sets of parallel rulings so as to produce also fourth andfifth diffractions that are of the same order as the second diffraction,that have the same strength as the second diffraction and that overlapthe first diffraction so as to produce third and fourth high-contrastlow-noise interference fringe patterns in the areas of overlap with thefirst diffraction, said third and fourth fringe patterns being 180° outof phase with one another and being orthogonal to the first and secondinterference fringe patterns, B. third and fourth detection meanspositioned to view the central fringes of the third and fourthinterference fringe patterns respectively for producing signalsdependent upon those patterns, and C. second motion means for producingrelative motion between the grating means and the third and fourthdetection means in a direction normal to said motion axis to move thethird and fourth fringe patterns with respect to the third and fourthdetection means.
 14. Apparatus as recited in claim 9A. wherein saidpattern-generating means also include second spatially coherentquasi-monochromatic light source means spaced from the first lightsource means in a direction normal to said motion axis, said secondsource means illuminating the grating means so as to produce fourth,fifth and sixth diffractions,(1) the fourth and fifth diffractions beingof a different order and of equal strength and overlapping so as toproduce a third high-contrast low-noise interference fringe pattern, and(2) the fourth and sixth diffractions being of a different order and ofequal strength and overlapping to produce a fourth high-contrastlow-noise interference pattern, said third and fourth patterns being180° out of phase with one another and 90° out of phase with respect tothe first and second fringe patterns, and B. further including third andfourth detection means positioned to view the central fringes of thethird and fourth interference fringe patterns respectively for producingsignals in response to those patterns, the signals from all four of saiddetection means being in phase quadrature.
 15. Apparatus for indicatingthe position of a movable element along a motion axis, said apparatuscomprisingA. light source means for producing spatially coherent,quasi-monchromatic light, B. holographically recorded, single frequencygrating means(1) positioned to receive light from the light sourcedirected along an axis perpendicular to the motion axis, and (2) havinga substantially pure sinusoidal phase transmission function whosepeak-to-peak phase delay produces first, second and third diffractions,the first and second diffractions being of a different order and equalstrength and overlapping so as to interfere to produce a firsthigh-contrast low-noise interference pattern, the first and thirddiffractions being of a different order and equal strength andoverlapping so as to interfere to produce a second high-contrastlow-noise interference pattern, said second pattern being 180° out ofphase with respect to the first pattern, C. first detection meanspositioned to view the first interference pattern for producing positionsignals, and D. first motion means for producing relative movement ofthe grating means and the first detection means along said motion axisthereby to move the first interference fringe pattern relative to thedetection means.
 16. Apparatus as recited in claim 15 and furtherincluding second signal-producing detection means positioned to view thesecond interference fringe pattern, said second fringe pattern movingrelative to the second detection means upon the occurrence of saidrelative movement due to the first motion means.
 17. Apparatus asrecited in claim 16 and further including third and fourthsignal-producing detection means for viewing the first and secondinterference fringe patterns respectively, said third and fourthdetection means being offset 90° in phase with respect to the first andsecond detection means in a direction along said motion axis so that thesignals from the four detection means are in phase quadrature. 18.Apparatus as recited in claim 16A. wherein the grating means has twoorthogonal sets of rulings so that the grating means produces fourth andfifth diffractions, the fourth diffraction being of a different orderfrom and having equal strength as the first diffraction and overlappingthe first diffraction so as to interfere to produce a thirdhigh-contrast low-noise interference fringe pattern, the fifthdiffraction being of a different order from and having equal strength asthe first diffraction and overlapping the first diffraction so as tointerfere to produce a fourth high-contrast low-noise interferencepattern, said third and fourth fringe patterns being 180° out of phasewith respect to each other and being orthogonal to the first and secondinterference patterns, and B. further including(1) third and fourthsignal-producing detection means for viewing the third and fourthinterference patterns respectively, and (2) second motion means forproducing relative motion of the grating means and the third and fourthdetection means thereby to move the second and third diffractionpatterns relative to the third and fourth detection means in a directionnormal to said motion axis.
 19. Apparatus as recited in claim 16 andfurther includingA. second spatially coherent quasi-monochromatic lightsource means spaced from the first light source means in a directionnormal to the motion axis and illuminating the grating means to generatefourth, fifth and sixth diffractions,(1) the fourth and fifthdiffractions being of a different order and equal strength andoverlapping so as to interfere to produce a third high-contrast,low-noise interference fringe pattern adjacent the first pattern, and(2) the fourth and sixth diffractions being of a different order andequal strength and overlapping to produce a fourth high-contrastlow-noise interference pattern adjacent the second interference pattern,said third and fourth interference patterns being 180° out of phase withrespect to each other and 90° out of phase with respect to the first andsecond interference patterns, and B. third and fourth signal-producingdetection means positioned to view the third and fourth interferencepatterns respectively, said third and fourth patterns moving withrespect to the third and fourth detection means upon the occurrence ofsaid relative movement due to said first motion means.
 20. Apparatus asrecited in claim 15 wherein the grating is formed with one or more setsof straight parallel rulings.